Great Day

***This post is from Thursday PM, but I was  having issues w/ the picture uploader and was not able to get them all uploaded until this am!***

Despite the dreariness, today was a good day The work day literally flew by probably because I had 4 meetings today and lunch out!

For a mid morning snack I had half of a Cascadian Farms organic Peanut Butter Chip granola bar… When I saw these in the store, I thought they looked like they might have a similar taste & texture to Fiber One bars and I was right! The advantage is that there is no weird or unrecognizable ingredients… The downside is that there is little protein & fiber in the bar – so I was hungry about an hour later, then again I only had half the bar this time, so the true test will be when I have the whole thing… I probably won’t eat these regularly due to the lacking protein/fiber, but I will keep them for on-the-go snacks or maybe even have it as a “dessert”.

Lunch was at good old faithful Panera Bread, surprised haha… It’s a shame it was raining today because we really look forward to eating lunch outside, but oh well, I guess you can’t have it all… 99% of all my trips to Panera Bread involve black bean soup & salmon salad; however, I knew I’d probably be having seafood tonight, so I decided to switch it up… Since the weather was ehhh out, I was definitely in a soup mood… but I wanted to try something different… I wound up getting their new turkey chickpea chilli and the classic cafe salad… It was refreshing, yet comforting all at the same time! I loved the heartiness of this chilli, it was spicy & filling and the chickpeas were absolutely delicious!!! I think I may have a new substitute for my black bean obsession…

For a mid afternoon snack, I originally planned on packing a mini Clif, but I forgot to grab it on my way out the door this morning, so I saved the whole grain baguette that I ordered as my “side” at Panera for my mid afternoon snack… I haven’t had Panera Bread’s “bread” in so long (I always get the apple), probably since my senior year of college… Back then I ate it so much and coupled with my weight gain, from that point on, I opted to always get the apple… However, I’m learning that food shouldn’t be off-limits… everything in moderation! Before I ate it, I threw it into our microwave at work for a good 15 seconds so it was chewy and warm (and delicious)… it was SOOOOOO good and I savored every bite!

Dinner was out @ Bonefish Grill for “mother’s day” w/ my mom… We had such a fun mother-daughter bonding time I’ve only ever been there once (my mom loves it there) and had gotten the salmon so I decided to try something new and have their tilapia… I liked this place because you can order how you want it prepared… It is all wood-grilled and you can select the special “sauce/style“… I ordered the mango salsa as the topping, which was so flavorful and brought me instantly back to our trip to Jamaica (where we consumed massive amounts of mangoes!)… it appeared as a plate full of fruit & veggies with the fish hiding underneath… I ordered double veggies as my “awesome” side choices… We also started out dinner with the “Bang Bang” shrimp… they are just as delicious (very spicy!) & unhealthy as they appear to be from this picture haha…

To finish off dinner, we decided to splurge and split a creme brulee – both of us LOVE this dessert, so it seemed appropriate to order it! It was definitely worth it, I don’t know if you can tell from the picture, but it was delicious, it was so creamy and the carmelization was perfect!

I HIGHLY recommend taking a trip to Bonefish Grill   Now I am off to lay in bed and relax after a fun night w/ my mom… I was contemplating staying up to watch LOST from 10-11, but it’s definitely passed my bed-time, so I’ll be watching it tomorrow instead